Penguin
by Ryth76
Summary: 4 years after Sozin's Comet, Aang shares with Katara his wish to be with her forever. Kataang one-shot. Fluff.


**A/N: Whew! Sorry for not writing in a while. I dropped my English class, so I haven't been writing as much. Also, I got bored of writing Naruto fanfics all the time, and felt that at 23 stories, I should add a new series into my caliber besides Naruto, crossovers, and the Lord of the Rings. Any unhappy Zutarians should scroll down to my Author's Note at the end.  


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**Penguin  
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"Wow, this place sure is friendly now that the Fire Lord, I mean Ozai, is gone," Aang noted as another passerby gave him a respectable bow. The warm summer breeze rippled across the town, offering no relief from the feeling of being stuck in a bread oven and left until well-done. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and grinned widely at the dark-haired girl beside him.

Katara admitted, "It's nice, but a little hot for an outdoor date."

"I think it's perfect," the Avatar replied with a rather smug smile. They passed through the other end of town and came into a rolling meadow covered in vibrant fire lilies. Aang stopped to pluck a lily from the ground and tuck it into Katara's hair. "Now close your eyes."

She raised a skeptical eyebrow and smiled shyly at him. "Okay, what are you up to?"

"Oh, nothing much," he answered mischievously. He took a hand. "Come on. It's a surprise."

Katara closed her eyes. He seemed to be guiding her through the meadow. The air was getting notably cool and still. Their pitter-patters echoed softly down the path as Aang hurried her along excitedly. She heard a woosh, then crackling.

He halted suddenly and she heard fire crackling. "Okay, open your eyes."

Katara's eyes fluttered open. They widened and she gasped. "Aang, it's… it's beautiful!"

A vibrant cavern glowed with all the colors of the rainbow, set off by the flame in the young Avatar's hands. Tiny green glowing crystals weaved thick veins into the wall between rows and rows of jutting crystals of red, orange, and blue. White spots gleamed on the ceiling and impressive pillars of rock framed a large stalagmite that looked like a great spirit.

"I thought you'd like it," Aang replied with a sheepish smile. "It reminded me of you… us, down in Oma and Shu's cave, so I thought it would be a bit fitting for this…"

Katara glanced at him. "What is it, Aang?"

"Katara, I…" He held out a fist, clutching something tightly, and his face went beet red. "I want us to be together!"

The waterbending master stared at him in surprise. "We are together."

Aang fidgeted shyly. "W-well, not like that. I mean, I'm glad we are together. But I want us to… be together." He took a deep breath. He opened her hand and placed a flat, round stone attached to ribbons in it.

Katara gaped speechlessly at him. She knew she should be ecstatic, but she only felt shocked. And terrified. "Oh… that together," she commented softly after the awkward silence.

Devastated, Aang said dully, "You… don't want to…"

"I-It's not that!" Katara stuttered. "I really like you, Aang. I-I'm just surprised."

She exhaled. "Wow… this is… this is huge. We shouldn't jump the gun just yet."

Aang protested mournfully, "But we've been dating four years and we're both of marrying age now."

"I know, Aang." His depressed face nearly broke her heart. "I'm mean, it's just that in all four years we've been together, you never once mentioned an interest in marrying me. And I thought Airbenders didn't marry."

Red-faced, Aang muttered, "Well, they did have kids…"

"Ohh," was all Katara answered. They stood in silence, Fire Nation red all over.

She cleared her throat and spoke slowly, "Well... I guess all I can say is -- Yes." She smiled as his disappointed frown transformed into an ecstatic grin. She threw her arms around him in a tight hug. "I'll marry you, Aang!"

Aang buried his face in her shoulder and said in a joyful muffled voice, "I'm so glad. So glad, Katara."

Katara tightened the tug. Smiling over his shoulder, she lifted her hand to look upon the penguin image intricately carved into her very own engagement necklace for the first time, remembering the happy-go-lucky little boy who woke up in her arms and cheerfully asked her to go penguin sledding with him.

"I love you," Aang said as they pulled away.

Katara looked up at him tenderly. "I love you, too."

They kissed tenderly below the vibrant display of crystallized rainbows, ready to face the terrifying unknown together as they had in a war-ridden world.

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**A/N: Okay, now here comes the part where I astonish everyone who hasn't read my profile to say: I hate Kataang and Zutara, equally.**** In fact, Aang and Katara are my two least favorite characters in ATLA.  
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** I try to keep my mind neutral when writing fanfics as if I'm in debate class and the teacher gave me a subject ****I disagree with ****to defend. ****I wrote this for no other reason than I happened to get a story idea for them. ****As much as I dislike Kataang, writing this was still a lot of fun and it felt good writing a story like this because it proved to me that I can write any pairing I put my mind to. ****That being said, I hope you enjoyed this despite it being written by an anti-Kataanger. I need to fix it up though. I wrote it on a 15 minute limit, and so it got rushed in the end. Sorry.  
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**Zutarians: Don't complain. I have a Zutara fic you can read. Howbeit, it's angsty and only vaguely shippy (don't worry; there is a kiss).****  
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